or you could move, people drive so slow here that the vert is actually fast. or put it this way, i pulled up to the intersection @skyline, and a tanker truck and a prius passed me, then i turned and followed them. the tanker truck pulled away from the prius, uphill

 

I have no problem with NY besides the gun laws, wont be moving anytime soon!

 

I would not have bought an AT car, and if somebody gave it to me for free I would part it out. However, otherwise I think you got a good deal. I paid $1K for my 88 convertible that has more mileage and more flaws.

When I started shopping around for a new top I realized that I could buy the top myself over the internet for less than the local shops could buy it from their chain of dealers. When it arrived I opened the box to see if it was something that I could do myself, and it took about 2 seconds to decide that I am not a seamstress and this job was better off in the hands of a professional, lol. A local top shop installed the top for only $400, and they even fixed a little bit of rust.

Car care products from 303 or RaggTop will supposedly help keep the top from ripping prematurely. So far the 303 seems to be working pretty well on mine.

I had a top of the line full Robbins top installed by a professional for a total of $1,100, and that same top is currently on Ebay for $165 less than what I paid for it nearly 3 years ago. While labor costs and taxes may be higher in some cities than they are in St. Louis, $3K sounds absurd.
1988-92 Mazda RX-7 Convertible Top with Rear Section | eBay

 

S5 didn't add too much weight actually. The convertible in 1988 weighed in at a staggering 3003lbs. In 1989/90 they weighed 3045, and the heaviest was the 1991 model year at 3071 lbs. Those are all 5 speed weights, so add about 40# for auto.

The offset, though, is that not only did the S4 make slightly less power, but the S4 convertible ONLY came with the 3.909 open differential. All S5 convertibles came with the 4.10 gear ratio differential, whether they were auto or not.

I have to agree with Styx. TII convertibles (especially w/ a hybrid turbo) are a BLAST to drive.

 

True, but the extra power from the s5 motor was due mostly to the VDI and 8k redline. All s5 autos were lowered to 7k redline because the auto trans couldn't spin past that safely. Also, all s4 verts were manual. There is a big performance difference between the s4 vert (manual obviously) and a s5 vert auto that doesn't have any more usable power, weighed in at 3115 lbs and had a 4 speed slushbox. I love the vert and would cruise and s5 auto vert but there is no way around it being epicly slow.

 

Not bad.. I would buy it and just put a new top and just leave it stock..

 

the vert its the nicest of the Rx7's, even stock and slow. i couldn't resist putting my steering wheel and cat back on mine

 

Soo its basically mine. Its getting delivered to me sunday. Body doesnt have a single ding in it! Interior looked flawless besides staring at the auto shifter.
Needs some work that wasnt mentioned at first but really i will prob never find a unmolested clean cheap vert local every again so i just had to get it.

He had the center cap wrench, jack, wheel chocks, cover for when the top in down. Not one single bent spot where the pinch welds are buttt its not 100% rust free. I expected that though. Pictures to come in the future.

 

sounds like a winner!

 

Nice! That is a steal of a price.

 

Got it delivered to me tonight. One nice ding in the middle of the drivers door i somehow over looked or maybe wasnt there before. Considering its the straightest body ive ever gotten my eyes keep looking at the ding.

Will be going over the brakes, source the last 3 parts i need for the manual swap, tune up then well see what happens. Top is expensive and will get to it in the future, i will seal the two rips as best as i can. Any ideas about that? Was thinking black duct tape that i have or fuse a patch some how. Plenty of pictures to come tomorrow.

 

I got mine with some sort of sealant on the top. Not too sure what it was, maybe plasti-dip or brush-on electrical tape. The rips on the sides (typical to all verts eventually) were sealed with duct tape. All the repairs seemed to be effective, only until I put the top down. Turns out that sealant and tape don't stretch as much as the vinyl. When used as a temporary fix to preclude rust, then it's ok in my book. Otherwise, don't expect it to stay on the top for too long. It'll eventually come undone.

 

I tried black duct tape but it only lasted about 2 days. I ended up putting regular duct tape under the vinyl with the sticky side up, and then put Shoe Goo over it. That didn't look very good but it worked until I received the new top. A vinyl patch fused to the top would probably look better. Regardless, I wouldn't operate the top with a patch because the holes are in a stressed area. You may want to get a car cover if you don't have a garage.

 

Ahh shoe goo! Should seal off water much better then duct tape. Wont be operating the top all winter. Plan to get a car cover tomorrow morning.

 

up at the top corners i was thinking about putting some vinyl under the top of the top, it wouldn't be perfect, but that's ok.

at the bottom corners you'd have to make something, but if you make it loose enough to not rip, it'll look horrible

and you might want to pop a couple of rubber plugs out of the floor

 

Autozone sells Vinyl repair kits for like 16bucks. I heard it works pretty well. I haven't had a chance to use mine yet seeing as how my car is in the shop. But give that a look over and see if it can help you.

 

So heres two quick shots from my cell phone. It made the red look really strange for some reason. Sourcing the last 3 parts i need for the manual swap and will be doing it on my 10 day vacation coming up! Already found 2 parts, mainly just need a S5 TII flywheel with the clutch bolts now. Installing a s5 turbo trans with custom drive shaft : ) And thanks for the vinyl idea EPIC, i will try it out sometime soon.